


Telling the Teachers

by thegiraffe



Category: Last Tango In Halifax
Genre: At school, Coming Out, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegiraffe/pseuds/thegiraffe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little 2-shot about Caroline and Kate telling their colleagues about their relationship. No sadness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Morning Beverly,” said Caroline in a bright, almost sing-song, fashion as she walked passed her secretary’s desk and into her own office, leaving the door open for Beverly to follow her in. “Did you have a nice weekend?” she enquired.   
“Yes thank you,” she replied trying to hide her surprise. Caroline was a wonderful head teacher and a great boss, Beverly liked her very much; but she was not generally one for small talk. Then Beverly handed Caroline a print out of her schedule for the day and talked her through it while Caroline checked that she had all the relevant files and bits of paperwork. “You’ve got a meeting with Stewart Hemmingway after assembly, at 10:15 you’re seeing Sharon about the UCAS evening, then I’ve blocked out the time you requested to finish reading through the year 12 reports.” Caroline nodded along, flicking through the papers on her desk. “Owen Palmer is coming to talk to you about the year 9 rugby tour at 1:15, and then Kate McKenzie wanted to see you at 1:45.” At this Caroline looked up, a slither of a smile breaking through the tough exterior. “She didn’t say why though,” Beverly added apologetically, knowing that her boss liked to be able to be fully prepared before every meeting.  
“That’s not a problem Beverly.” Caroline’s smile was less hidden now. But her secretary just carried on going through the day’s itinerary. Once she’d finished, she went to fetch Caroline’s tea. As she was in the kitchen she thought about her boss. She’d had a very difficult year with her husband leaving her for another woman; the anger and sadness had sat heavily on Caroline’s shoulders, plain for anyone to see, but recently she seemed lighter, brighter, happier. Beverly hoped that things were starting to look up for her and that soon Caroline would be back to her old self. When Beverly returned to the headmistresses office with the tea, Caroline was reading a text on her mobile, she was smiling, a truer, happier, smile than Beverly had ever seen, and she giggled like a teenager. Beverly handed her the tea without saying anything and retreated back to the outer office. That wasn’t like Caroline, not even the old Caroline.  
When Beverly went out to fetch her tea Caroline rummaged her phone out of her bag and typed out a quick text to Kate. [What’s our meeting about at lunchtime? Have a good morning xxx]. She dropped the phone onto her desk and carried on sorting through her papers, but she kept glancing back at the phone until it buzzed, signalling a reply. [I knew you wouldn’t have time to come and see me. Think of it as a lunch break. xxx] Caroline grinned. Her girlfriend really was perfect. [You’re perfect. I can’t wait! Xxx] she typed out, absentmindedly taking the tea of Beverly and thanking her. Her phone buzzed again. [Don’t worry, I won’t take up 20 mins of your time every day. I just missed you so much this weekend. Xxx] Kate had spent the weekend in London with her mum and sadly Caroline had been too busy to join her. [I missed you too xxx] Caroline replied before putting her phone away and getting ready for assembly.   
Kate was glad that the assembly hymn was one that she knew perfectly because this meant that she could surreptitiously turn her head to watch her magnificent girlfriend stride down the chapel aisle, emanating glorious power, causing butterflies in Kate’s stomach and a smile to take over her face. Kate missed everything that Caroline said during the assembly, too busy admiring her beauty and daydreaming about seeing her later. On the way out of the chapel, as the students and teachers all scuttled off to their first lessons, Kate made her way over towards Caroline who was talking to Mrs Hall. When the History teacher turned and headed down the corridor, Kate caught Caroline’s eye. She walked over and said good morning, their hands subconsciously reaching out for each other. They let their fingers brush together surreptitiously but then headed about their separate ways. Oh how Kate wished that she didn’t have to keep hiding this. She was happier than she had been in...well... forever, but she had to keep it quiet. She understood why, not only was Caroline still in the closet, but she was her boss, it was complicated.   
Caroline couldn’t stop herself from watching the clock as she finished reading through the year 12 reports. She made an effort to read every student’s report before it was sent out, so that she could catch any problems that might be surfacing and she could praise the student who were doing exceptionally well or who had made huge improvements. When the head of P.E. arrived for their meeting, Caroline politely discussed his plans for the tour which, if it went ahead, Lawrence, and the rest of the year 9 rugby team, would be going on. The short meeting passed excruciatingly slowly and Caroline tried to be professional and not glance at the time too often. Eventually Owen dashed off for another training session, leaving Caroline to wait in giddy anticipation for her girlfriend to arrive and break up her rather uninteresting day. At precisely 1:45 there was a gentle knock on the door and Kate peered her head into the office. Caroline rushed over and wrapped her arms around her, giving her a deep, passionate, kiss. Then she remembered where she was and stood back a little, realising that it was rather inappropriate for her to be making out in her office. Instead she guided Kate towards the small sofa at one edge of the office, where they sat together, fingers intertwined, talking about their weekends until the bell rang for afternoon registration.   
Later that evening, while Lawrence was upstairs doing his homework, Caroline and Kate were curled up together in front of the TV. They were watching one of their favourite shows, Only Connect. They were a little competitive when it came to this show, but Kate generally got more of the questions right than Kate did, but Caroline had an unusual proficiency when it came to the missing vowel round. Out of nowhere, when the show ended, Caroline asked, “Do people at school know that you’re gay?” Kate was a little surprised by the out-of-the-blue question. She readjusted her position on the sofa so that she was sitting cross-legged facing Caroline, ready for a slightly serious conversation.   
“I think most of the staff know, or at least suspect. It’s not something that I jump around and yell about, but I’m pretty open to talking about it. Those that have been around a while probably knew when I was with Erin. Why do you ask?” She stroked the back of Caroline’s hand with her thumb, worried that Caroline was upset by something. Caroline thought for a moment before speaking.  
“I was just wondering... I mean... do you think they suspect that something’s going on between us? I feel that whenever we are in the same room it is so obvious that I am completely in love with you.” Kate smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “I don’t like hiding. I thought originally that I would always want to keep this a secret because it isn’t anyone else’s business,” Caroline was rambling now, “But I want everyone to know how proud I am of you - of us. But the idea of telling everyone - of ‘coming out’ just seems really scary, and I’m a little overwhelmed. You’re so good at being yourself and I’ve never been very good at that,” Kate interrupted the babbling with a quick kiss. Caroline looked embarrassed and a little flustered.  
“Don’t worry my beautiful,” Kate said softly, “There’s no rush.” She kissed the back of Caroline’s hand. “I’m really glad that you want to start thinking about telling people about our relationship,” another kiss, “But we can do it slowly and at our own pace. Coming out is a big deal, and you’ve done so well already with the boys, and your mother, and Gillian and her family. You ought to be really proud of yourself. I’m proud of you.” The tears, which had been welling up in Caroline’s eyes for the last few minutes, were finally set free, rolling down her face. Kate felt her heart ache for her girlfriend’s sadness and used her thumb to gently wipe away the tears. She pulled Caroline into a warm, tight embrace and stroked her back comfortingly until her sobs subsided.   
The next morning was a Saturday, but Caroline had to get up early to drop Lawrence at his Rugby match, so when Kate woke up from her lie-in and reached out for her girlfriend, she found the bed empty. She pouted at thin air, pulling the duvet around her tightly, snuggling into its warmth. A few moments later she heard Caroline’s car pull into the driveway and then the front door open and shut. Kate waited in anticipation for her to appear. Caroline opened the bedroom door carrying two steaming mugs of tea. She slipped her shoes off and climbed back into bed with Kate, giving her a warm morning kiss as she handed her one of the mugs. “Your nose is cold,” giggled Kate. Caroline smiled.  
“Good morning to you too!” she teased, “and it’s freezing outside.”   
“Well then it’s a good thing you’ve got me to keep you warm.” Kate leaned in to kiss her again, wrapping her arms tightly around Caroline’s torso. Caroline nuzzled into her, feeling more relaxed than she had thought possible before she met this woman.   
“I love you,” Caroline said quietly. This wasn’t the first time she had said that, but Kate knew how much of a big deal it was every time Caroline said it.   
“I know you do.” replied Kate, gently, “I love you too.” She could tell that Caroline was still feeling vulnerable and fragile from their discussion the night before. “Are you ok?” she asked, brushing the hair off Caroline’s face. Caroline shrugged uncharacteristically and sighed, rolling onto her side to face Kate. Taking hold of Kate’s hand, she started tracing random shapes on her palm with her finger. They sat there in warm, comfortable, silence for a a while until Kate’s stomach rumbled. “Sorry,” she said, giggling.  
“We should get you some breakfast,” said Caroline, gently prodding Kate’s soft stomach. Kate glanced at the clock.  
“It’s almost time for lunch!”  
Twenty minutes later, the two women were sat at the kitchen counter eating omelettes. Kate was still in her pyjamas, having neglected to get dressed in favour of watching her girlfriend cook. Just as they had finished the meal, while they were still sitting there chatting casually about this that and the other, Caroline’s phone rang - Lawrence. While Caroline was talking to her son, the doorbell rang. Kate went to answer it, assuming it was just the postman. She was taken aback when she opened the door to find a smartly dressed man standing there. “Gavin!” she said, surprised to see the Chair of Governors here on a Saturday morning.   
“Kate!” he said, with equal surprise. Not only was Kate at Caroline Elliot’s house, but she was wearing pyjamas. “Urm, is Caroline in?” he stuttered, “I’m sorry to bother her on a Saturday, but it’s urgent.” Kate blinked, unsure what to say, she glanced back into the house for a second then stood back, inviting the Chair of Governors in.   
“Gavin’s here,” she called to Caroline so as to not surprise her too much.   
“Who?” Caroline called back “oh and Lawrence is going back to Angus’ after rugby.”  
“Gavin Henderson,” Kate replied, leading him into the kitchen. When Caroline saw her colleague she was frozen for a second in confusion. She glanced at Gavin, then back at Kate, a hint of panic flicking across her face. Why was he here? Had he heard about her and Kate? Was he here to reprimand them? He couldn’t actually do that could he? She tried to communicate these questions to Kate with a look. Kate was just about run upstairs and put some proper clothes on, feeling rather uncomfortable being here in just her pyjamas, but then she saw the fear in Caroline’s eyes, so settled for putting on Caroline’s long, purple, cardigan which was lying on the back of a chair.   
“Gavin,” Caroline started to say, a tremble evident in her voice. But Gavin interrupted her.  
“I’m really sorry to come here on a Saturday Caroline,” he said, “but there was a problem with some of the paperwork for the ISA funding application and I need it signed and sent off today.” The flood of relief that Caroline felt was visible as the tension escaped from her body in a breath.   
“That’s fine Gavin, shall I have a look.” Gavin passed her a file and she showed him into her office. Caroline glanced back up at Kate who mouthed ‘ok?’ Caroline nodded.  
“I’m just going to get changed,” Kate whispered, disappearing out of the room.   
When Kate re-emerged, feeling much better now that she was properly dressed, she glanced into the office to see that Caroline and Gavin were still working, so she went about tidying up the kitchen. She wasn’t sure whether she should hide away upstairs until he left, but he’d already seen her here in her pyjamas so any damage had already been done. Whatever paperwork they were doing didn’t take long, so by the time Kate had finished the washing up, Caroline and Gavin were done. “Would you like a cup of tea?” Caroline offered Gavin once he’d packed up the papers.   
“No thanks,” he answered, “I’ll leave you two ladies to your weekend.” He smiled and Caroline blushed, avoiding looking at Kate. Kate tried not to giggle.  
“Thank you Gavin,” she said warmly. “I hope you have a wonderful weekend.” Caroline showed him to the door and waved him off. As soon as his car was out of sight, she turned to Kate breathed out deeply. Kate wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close.   
“Do you think he knows?” asked Caroline, breathing quickly. Kate smiled, kissing her briefly.  
“He probably has his suspicions,” she grinned, “But he didn’t seem like it worried him.”  
“That’s true,” nodded Caroline. “Gosh, I feel all shaky.” Kate guided her towards the lounge and manoeuvre her onto the sofa, leaning in to kiss her, slowly but tantalisingly.


	2. Chapter 2

“I just feel weird about doing it formally in a meeting,” said Caroline as her and Kate laid in bed on Sunday night.   
“Doing what?” asked Kate, confused.  
“Telling the staff about us.” Caroline sighed, “Sorry I’m talking about it so much, it’s just playing on my mind.” She leaned over and rested her head on Kate’s chest, listening to the comforting sound of her heartbeat.   
“How about the staff drinks on Tuesday night?” suggested Kate, “It’s more casual and it’s in the pub rather than in school.”  
“I’ve got a meeting in Leeds that day so I’ll probably turn up late.” explained Caroline, sadly.  
“Well then when you arrive I can give you a big kiss in front of everyone. Then we won’t even need to tell them.” Kate suggested with a cheeky smile. Caroline giggled and blushed, but then Kate raised an eyebrow implying that it was kind of a serious suggestion. Caroline looked at her for a moment, admiring her face, then kissed her.  
“Ok,” she said simply, blushing at the thought, but excited too. “I love you,” she said, stroking Kate’s cheek and kissing her again.  
“I love you too,” whispered Kate as she turned off the light.  
Tuesday morning came around and Lawrence was sat at the breakfast bar eating his cereal, still half asleep. Caroline was rushing around sorting out papers for her head teachers meeting in Leeds. “Lawrence, you’ve remembered that Kate is driving you in today?” she asked. Lawrence grunted in reply. Kate passed Caroline a cup of coffee then checked the schedule on the fridge - Caroline made them keep an up to date weekly planner there at all times.   
“Lawrence, are you going to Angus’ straight after school or do you want a lift back here first?” she asked.  
“I’ll go straight to his,” muttered Lawrence with his mouth full.  
“Then have you got your overnight stuff?” Caroline asked, “Toothbrush, pyjamas, change of underwear.” Lawrence grunted, finished the last spoonful of cereal, then stormed upstairs to back his bag. Caroline sighed.  
“This meeting is going to be either incredibly boring or incredibly stressful, depending on how argumentative people are.” Kate felt sorry for her so she gave her a kiss.   
“Are you looking forward to this evening though?” she asked. Caroline made a rather uncharacteristic nervous squeak. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” offered Kate.  
“No,” said Caroline, “I do want to. I want to a lot! I’m just nervous.” She kissed Kate.  
“Ok,” said Kate once their lips had parted, “You promise that you’ll text me if you change your mind.” Caroline nodded. “Because unless you text me, I am going to kiss you like this,” she kissed Caroline so tenderly that it left them both feeling weak at the knees.   
“Get a room,” complained Lawrence. Kate smiled, still looking straight at Caroline, only inches away from her face.  
“We do have a room,” said Caroline cheekily, “In fact we have many. I own this house.” Lawrence puffed and went to wait in the hallway so that he didn’t have to watch the romance.  
“I should probably go to work,” said Kate sadly, kissing Caroline again. “I hope your meeting isn’t too rubbish. I love you.”  
“I love you too,” Caroline kissed her. “Have a great day Lawrence,” she called to her son, “And don’t forget to do your homework at Angus’ later!”  
Kate relaxed into her seat at the pub. It had been a long day and she could really do with unwinding. She didn’t generally socialise a great deal with her colleagues from work, but when she did she generally enjoyed herself. Currently she had butterflies in her stomach as she thought about Caroline arriving soon. They’d texted a few times throughout the day when Caroline had been particularly bored, but Kate had missed their supposedly accidental meetings in the school corridors. “Are you ok Kate?” Ruth asked, waving her hand in front of Kate’s face. Kate shook her head.  
“Sorry, I was a million miles away.” They started chatting away. Ruth and Kate were good friends, they’d started at Sulgrave Heath at about the same time and, despite being a history teacher, Ruth had helped out on the year 10 French exchange several times. Michael Dobson and several other staff members joined the conversation. They were all catching up on each other’s personal lives, which they didn’t often do during school hours. They finished interrogating Owen about his new girlfriend and then Owen said,  
“Kate, are you seeing anyone these days? You’ve been glancing at your phone quite a bit,” Kate blushed.  
“Oh my gosh, you are!” exclaimed Ruth. “Tell me, tell me.”  
“No comment!” said Kate firmly but with a smile on her face. “How is Carl?” she changed the subject quickly.   
Caroline was jittery on the drive back from Leeds. As much as she tried not to play out scenarios in her head, she couldn’t help it. She imagined every little detail of everyone’s reaction for a lot of different angles, trying to predict the good, the bad, and the surprise. Her heard was fluttering and her breathing was unsteady. She turned the radio on to distract herself. BBC4 was playing one of their comedy panel shows which did quite a good job at keeping her impending ‘coming out’ off her mind. When she finally pulled into the carpark at the familiar pub, she stayed in the car, unable to move; her nerves seemed to have taken over. “Breathe,” she said to herself out loud, taking in a big deep breath and releasing it slowly. “Breathe Caroline. You are a strong, competent woman. You can do this.” She breathed hard again. “Kate,” she said to herself, reminding herself why she was doing this. She tentatively stepped out of the car and walked towards the pub.  
Inside, the group of teachers were chatting merrily; they’d all had a drink or two and were relaxing. Caroline hovered at the door for a moment, watching them. Then she glanced at Kate and that gave her the courage to enter the room. “Caroline,” called Beverly when she noticed her. Caroline smiled at her, trying not to appear nervous. Kate almost leapt out of her seat. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and pulled her close, hoping the tight hold would reassure her. She looked at her for a moment, giving her a second to breathe, then leaned in and kissed her. It was a much more passionate kiss than she would normal give in public, but that didn’t worry her right now. The kiss was breath-taking, magical and made them both feel warm and happy. When they pulled apart Kate looked up at Caroline to check that she was ok - she was - but neither of them dared look over to see the faces of their colleges. Instead they continued to look at each other, face to face.  
“How was your meeting,” asked Kate. Caroline sighed.  
“Exhausting. I need a drink!” Kate took hold of her hand and guided her towards the bar, Caroline wrapped her arm around Kate’s waist, feeling free.  
When they returned to the table with their drinks, Caroline’s arm still around Kate’s waist for comfort, they finally saw the surprised faces of their colleagues. They both blushed, but couldn’t help but smile. They took an inventory of the different faces and found that none of them were explicitly negative, they were mostly just astonished. Kate felt Caroline hesitate slightly, but she gave her a look which made her smile again. They sat down next to Ruth on the long sofa-bench, sitting close to each other. There was silence at the table; no one knew what to say. It was Beverly who finally spoke up. “I can’t say I didn’t have my suspicions,” she said, beaming, “I’m very happy for you.” Caroline blushed even more, squeezing Kate’s hand.  
“Thank you Beverly,” she said warmly.   
“Now,” said Ruth, taking a deep breath, “I probably wouldn’t be saying this if I was completely sober, but tell us everything!” She sounded like a gossipy teenager. Kate grinned and Caroline spluttered on her drink.  
“This isn’t story time,” said Kate, not sure how comfortable Caroline would be with telling them the whole story, “But I can say that I am very happy.”  
“Me too,” added Caroline, giving Kate a peck on the cheek.  
Throughout the evening, as more drinks were consumed, the staff managed to draw out a few more facts about Caroline and Kate’s relationship - how long it had been going on, the fact that they were living together etc... Many of the staff were admiring how content both of the women looked, especially Caroline who had been through a tough couple of years. None of them had ever seen their boss like this - relaxed, happy, and completely and utterly in love; they could see it in their eyes. Ruth and David were pushing Aiden to tell the embarrassing story of him getting attacked by a monkey at the zoo. He was bright red with embarrassment. “Please can someone else tell and embarrassing story to make me feel better.” Caroline had definitely had a little too much to drink, and that, coupled with the fact that she felt a huge weight lifted on her shoulder, made her more open than she normally was.  
“Well Gavin, the Chair of Governors, saw Kate in her skimpy pyjamas when he turned up at my house to do some paperwork. She was very embarrassed.” Caroline chuckled.   
“Thanks for telling everybody that,” teased Kate, her face reddening. Everyone else laughed, partly in surprise at Caroline being so unheadmistressy. Caroline leaned in and kissed Kate.  
“I love you,” she whispered in her ear.


End file.
